1. Shining Examples
2. JonDixon.co.uk
3. Tim Bentinck
4. Sharon Fergus
5. Greensleeves Films
6. Dave-Woods.co.uk
7. Kit Lane

1. 12th January 2007
   Yet more pictures of the garden added to 'My House' in the 'About' section!
2. 27th May 2006
   Even more pictures of the garden added to 'My House' in the 'About' section!
3. 3rd April 2006
   More pictures of the progress of the garden makeover added to 'My House' in the 'About' section
4. 18th March 2006
   More updates to the 'Acting' section, which is now pretty much complete. I might scan and upload a few more photos to the odd show, but there shouldn't be any dead ends in that section now!
5. 8th December 2005
   I've temporarily suspended the guestbook due to increasing spam attacks. Should be back up soon, once I've modified it to block as many of them as possible.
6. 29th November 2005
   Added some photos of the new bathroom to the 'My House' section, along with a 'work-in-progress' shot of the embryonic new garden.
7. 30th August 2005
   Re-worked the site to be visually almost identical but with much improved accessibility. The site is now AAA (triple-A) compliant to the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines and fully Section 508 compliant. I have also taken the opportunity to do a small amount of cleaning up of redundant links and brought some of the 'one-off' pages of the site into the main structure.
   
   There are some pages (particularly in the 'Design' section) that I haven't updated yet. These will hopefully be added over the next few weeks. Until then, sorry about any non-existent pages you may come across!
8. 8th July 2004
   Added a guestbook to the site. Let's see how many people actually visit the site who care enough to leave me a message!
9. 29th June 2004
   Changed this page to include a dynamically populated 'journal'. This was written in ASP VBScript. The journal can be updated through web-form and uses a simple Access database to store the entries.
10. 27th June 2004
    Added details to the rest of the plays in the Acting/Theatre work - 1957-1978 section, the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School productions.
11. 26th November 2003
    New render added to the Artwork/CG Work section. Details added to a couple more plays in the Acting/Theatre work - 1978-1988 section.
12. 14th September 2003
    Two new renders added to the Artwork/CG Work section.
13. 1st July 2003
    More content added to 'Design' section and 'Acting' section (TV). Fixed rendering problem that made images in the left-hand column float away from the left margin.
14. 16th June 2003
    Added more content to 'Design' section.
15. 11th June 2003
    Uploaded new, re-designed site.

Welcome to WayOutEast

- jon dixon's place on the web

Hi. Thanks for visiting Wayouteast. As well as the sporadic and random musings and rants below, this is really just a repository of stuff that I've done in my 51 years to date, as a professional actor, illustrator and designer. I hope you find something you like or are interested by in these pages. If you do, let me know by dropping me a line, if you'd like to. There is also a guestbook, but it's currently offline until I can work out how to stop the flood of automated spamming. I really do have enough V!&gra and Ci@l''s now guys - you can stop, OK?

I hope you enjoy your visit!

Latest musings

Back From The Dead

Not just a reference to the length of time since I last wrote something new on this page!

In 1988 I wrote a horror story called 'The Surgeon's Tale'. It was a truly horrid idea that I strove quite hard to take to its extremes - based on Stephen King's dictum that great horror consists of taking something bad and making it worse. The story was published in that famous series The Pan Book of Horror Stories, edited first by Herbert Van Thal and later by Clarence Paget.

It appeared in volume 29, and I was thrilled to have contributed in a very small way (and rather late) to a series which contains so many memorable, expertly-told and brilliant stories by so many great writers, and which had such a strong effect on me in my childhood and adolescence (I still have a complete set of all 30 volumes!).

Clarence Paget wrote to me a year or so later and asked if I would write another story for volume 31(I think). I did so, a bleak urban take on vampires, but sadly, before it ever saw print, the series was cancelled and the story's been sitting unpublished in a drawer ever since.

Last year was the 50th anniversary of The Pan Book of Horror Stories, and to mark it Pan are re-releasing the very first book (originally published in 1959). They're doing so at the prompting of editor Johnny Mains, who has also written an excellent four-page overview of the series in this month's SFX Horror Special. I'm thrilled to have a name-check in the article, and to have 'The Surgeon's Tale' mentioned as a stand-out story in the later books!

Johnny runs his own website at www.panbookofhorrorstories.co.uk (there's even an essay on 'The Surgeon's Tale' on it by author John Probert) and also has his own publishing company, Noose & Gibbet Publishing. In March this year they'll be publishing a collectors' hardback edition of 'Back From The Dead: The Legacy of the Pan Book Of Horror Stories'. This book represents the culmination of several years' research on Johnny's part, tracking down as many surviving authors from the original series as possible and re-uniting them in this anniversary volume. The book contains not only five of the best classic stories from the original books but also sixteen brand new, never-before-published stories from authors such as Christopher Fowler, Conrad Hill, David A. Riley and Craig Herbertson. And, yes, 'Dreaming The Dark' by yours truly finally sees the light of day after twenty years! There's also a forward by Shaun Hutson, an introduction by David A. Sutton, and a biography of the late, great Herbert Van Thal by Johnny Mains himself.

I'm delighted to have a second chance at contributing to the Pan Book Of Horror Stories legend after all these years, especially in such fantastic company! I only hope that the story still stands up today, after twenty years, as its treatment of the vampires, which I thought at the time was fairly innovative, has since become perhaps more commonplace. Oh well, we shall see...


Posted on 31/01/2010 17:26:19

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Grunt grunt. Oink oink...

Nah, not more swine flu jokes...

Like all of us, I expect, I've spent the last few days alternately shaking with laughter and rage as the debacle of MPs' expenses has played out. Rage at the enormity of the sums these freeloaders have been siphoning out of our pockets and the ever-more-convoluted ways they've found to play the system and maximise their swag, and laughter at the penny-pinching nature of some of the items - just how utterly, pathetically cheap do you have to be to claim a kit-kat, or a bath-plug, or Prescott's brilliant broken toilet seats (two of them!)? What utter hopeless shitclowns they are! You just have to point and laugh.

But mostly it's been rage that's won out. Rage at the sheer nerve of these incompetant, sleazy crooks - arrogant, greedy, mendacious, dishonest, puffed-up with self-regard and entitlement, squeezing the public purse for as much as they can get from it, spending our hard-earned taxes on themselves with no regard for ethics, decency or probity. And then appearing to front of the cameras, not to apologise as they should, but to shamelessly repeat the mantra that they've 'done nothing wrong' and that 'no rules were broken'.

And this is the one thing I simply cannot understand - this seeming general acceptance of the excuse that 'no rules were broken' and it's just the system that's wrong. Once and for all, can we please nail this lie?

Here's the pertinent part of the rule: "Only those additional costs wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred to enable you to stay overnight away from your only or main UK residence, either in London or in the constituency."

Wholly. Exclusively. Necessarily. That's the rule. It's exactly the same rule that governs my claims for incurred expenses when I visit a client site and have to travel or stay overnight. It's not hard to understand. Wholly. Exclusively. Necessarily. And if I was dishonest enough to try to play the system to claim anything over and above that I would quite rightly be summarily dismissed from my job and probably face prosecution.

Multiple £900 TVs? Food? Groceries? Gardening? Luxury stone sinks? Prams? Bathplugs? Carpets? DVD players? Sky subscriptions? Tiling? Bathrobes? Artex removal? Mole extermination?

Seriously, you fuckers, hand on heart, are any of these "wholly, exclusively and necessarily" incurred in your overnight stay? Or in the commission of your job in any way at all? Of course not. You just stick absolutely anything you buy on the old expenses, don't you? That way you can keep all of your (four times the national average) salaries for yourselves. God forbid you should actually have to pay for something yourselves! Not when there's all that lovely public money available, that would otherwise be wasted on silly things like hospitals and schools and roads... And if it runs out, well, you can just raise some more taxes, or suggest that we should all take a pay cut because times are hard...

Even without the cynical nigh-on monthly juggling of 'second homes' for profit, this is plain, simple fraud. Fraud. Fraud that in any other occupation would lead to instant dismissal and probably the involvement of the police.

So why aren't the police involved? And not hunting for the 'mole' (who, frankly, should be given a knighthood for services to the realm - maybe Fred Goodwin's). No, why aren't they investigating this massive fraud that's been going on in Westminster, seemingly for years. Let's have a test case. Let's prosecute one of these wretched people and test this mendacious claim that "no rules were broken" in court.

Let's start with Blears. See if that will wipe the smug little self-satisfied smile off her face...
Posted on 10/05/2009 19:13:47

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What do you call 55 Porsche 928s in a pub car park?

The 10th Anniversary meeting of the 928 Owners Club!



My first time at a 928 OC meeting, and I couldn't have asked for a nicer December day for a drive down to Oxfordshire really. The Owners' Club meet at The Merry Miller every year on the first Saturday of December, and 55 cars and their owners turned up for this 10th anniversary meet.

The weather was cold but fine, and despite the low sun in my eyes all the way down, and a couple of road-works-induced crawls on the M42, it was a really nice drive down. There were already quite a few cars there when I arrived, and they made an impressive sight. You can go for months without ever seeing another 928... and to be suddenly faced with twenty or thirty at once is a bit overwhelming! And more kept arriving! In the end there were fifty-five!

I chatted with several of the other owners, some of whom had been at the first of these meetings back in 1998, and some of whom were newbies, like me. Some fascinating people, and some lovely cars - including one beautiful S4 in a non-factory pearlescent blue, which had been painted to match the owner's other car - a Bristol! Eddie, the owner, won 'most popular 928' on the day, and deservedly so! It was beautiful! It's always nice to have the reassurance of tentatively mentioning some small foible of my twenty-year-old car and have another owner say, 'of yes, mine does that too...'. :)

A very nice lunch and interesting lunchtime conversation (thanks Andrew!) and I drove home again, the car as usual behaving perfectly (in fact I think it drove even better than usual for having spent the afternoon with so many friends and relations)!

Thanks to Angus, who organises the club and the website, and to all the members who tirelessly give advice and support! :)

The only small irritation of the day was that I left the house in such a rush that I left my proper camera behind, not realising until I was halfway down the M42! So only rubbish phone camera pics as a memento of a great day out!



Mine's the one in the middle!






Posted on 06/12/2008 19:53:50

Today's link(s): Porsche 928 at Wikipedia
Quote of the day: "Driving a 928 isn't driving at all really. It's just moving a work of art around really fast."

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Scissor Sisters at the O2

It's a measure of how long it's been between recent posts on this increasingly-sporadic 'blog', that I'm writing this nine months after the Scissor Sisters' Halloween party at the Brixton Academy (below). Last Thursday, Anna, Sharon and I went off to see the band again, this time at the O2 Arena (the Millenium Dome as was). We got there really early and had to queue for ages in what the security personnel were actually calling 'pens'! Mooooo!! Or baaaaaa! Anyway, the queuing paid off as when the doors did finally open we managed to get places right at the front - nothing between us and the stage by six feet of space and a remarkably friendly security guy who actually chatted..!

Warming up for the Sisters were Amadou And Mariam, a husband and wife team from Mali who, with their excellent band, played a great set of catchy African-tinged r&b songs that got most of the crowd clapping along. Special kudos to the African drummer / percussionist - excellent! Mexican waves around the galleries and beachball volleying kept the capacity crowd further entertained until projected instructions on the stage curtains told us all to bring on the main attraction by an accelerating chant of S-C-I-S-S-O-R-S-I-S-T-E-R-S-Oh-Yes...

The first bars of 'She's My man' start up and the Sisters are on, back in the UK (their second and spiritual home) and looking amazing - Jake Shears in silver lurex and Ana Matronic in a twenties-style fringed dress. The show was spectacular, with lasers, glitter bombs, back-projection screens and the band promenading out into the audience along catwalks that formed the 'legs' of the Scissor Sister's logo (some lucky competition winners got to stand between the legs in what Ana referred to as 'the crotch-pit'). But most of all the show was about the music and the atmosphere. I can't think of another band that so effortlessly mingles genres and moods - from the stomping good-time rock 'n' roll of 'Music Is The Victim' and 'Kiss You Off', through the disco dazzle of 'Comfortably Numb' and 'I Don't Feel Like Dancin', into the quiet tenderness of 'Mary' and 'Land Of A Thousand Words'. All delivered with high-energy performance and the incredible rapport with the audience that Jake and (especially) Ana Matronic have (her deadpan recital of the three questions she asked Jesus when she happened to bump into him at the Vatican on the Italian leg of their tour was priceless).

All the hits were played, Babydaddy swapping instruments throughout (and also guitar lines with a brilliantly on-form Del Marquis). The only sad absence was drummer Paddy Boom who recently lost his mother. And the beautifully tender 'Mary', a deeply personal song about love and loss, was dedicated to him.

The Scissor Sisters really do know how to turn a venue into a party, and 20,000 people clapped, danced and sang themselves hoarse, and in no time at all, it seemed, the band were leaving the stage. Not to worry, though, they returned with several encores and finished with a storming version of 'I Don't Feel Like Dancin', Jake stripping down to his sequinned undies and flashing his bum as they left.

I love that feeling of leaving a gig, tired and on a buzz of adrenaline high, with your ears ringing slightly and your mind full of the show you've just seen. But it's always tinged with a bit of regret with the Scissor Sisters that the happy vibe that their shows always creates for everyone present can't last forever. Still, it was magic while it lasted and there's always the albums (they're back to New York next week to work on the third one - yaaaayy!) and the anticipation of the next time. They are Scissor Sisters...and so are we...

My new camera (Canon Ixus 800) performed well, despite its owner's poor photographic skillz, so here's a taste of the night.

More photos on my Flickr pages







Posted on 29/07/2007 17:59:34

Today's link(s): Read a much better review here
Quote of the day: "She came on stage ten minutes late, then she sang for ten minutes - and then she went off stage. It was the show that should have been called 'Barbra Streisand; watch me leave the stage'. Then four gay men came up on an elevator and started to sing some of her hits... So ladies and gentleman, the moral of the story is - the San Francisco Gay Men's Choir will come out and sing the rest of our show. Thank you, goodnight." - Jake Shears and Ana Matronic on Barbara Streisand's O2 'appearance' the previous night.

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Please work for us for nothing...

I had an e-mail waiting for me this evening when I got home from work, from a Ms Claudia Tate at the publishers Quarto. While perfectly politely phrased, the content annoyed me somewhat. The e-mail read as follows:

Dear Jon Glentoran

Re: Drawing and Painting the Undead

I work for Quarto Publishing plc www.quarto.com and am producing the above book. I have seen your work on the internet and am writing in the hope that you would be willing to submit images to illustrate the gallery section of the book. All work would be used in a positive light as examples for others to aspire to.

Artists featured within the book, will be acknowledged and sent a complimentary copy.

Kindly see that attached info pack. The deadline for submitting images is 30th July 2007 but please do not hesitate to contact me should you need more time.

I hope you will be interested, and look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely Claudia

-----------------------------
Claudia Tate
Picture Researcher
Quarto Publishing Plc

The 'info pack' she mentions basically repeats the gist of the e-mail and offers a form to fill out with the details of any work I might want to send, and a permission form to sign granting Quarto the use of that artwork. The relevant part of the form reads:

I hereby grant Quarto Publishing plc permission to reproduce at any size the images submitted by me for inclusion in their forthcoming title: Drawing and Painting the Undead (‘the Work’), in all editions, revisions, reprints and promotion of the Work. I warrant that I am the sole owner of all rights in the material submitted, or I have been authorized by the owner of those rights to grant the rights herein granted. The sole consideration for granting these rights shall be the promotional value to me of inclusion in the Work. I understand that Quarto Publishing plc is under no obligation to include any of my material in the Work. I have been informed that Quarto can work with high quality transparencies, prints or hi res files, and that these are submitted at my own risk.

Note the sentence: "The sole consideration for granting these rights shall be the promotional value to me of inclusion in the Work."

Basically I give them artwork and my sole recompense is the "promotional value" of having my work included in their book. What a bargain...for them!

I was planning just to ignore the e-mail, but the more I thought about it the more irritated I became. Quarto is a large, profitable, multi-national company who could well afford to pay the going rate for illustrations and artwork. Yet instead they are seeking to profit from the hard work and skill of artists and illustrators without paying them a single penny. What utter contempt for the very creative people they claim to 'promote'.

I wrote an e-mail back to Ms.Tate which I reproduce below without further comment:

Dear Claudia,

Thank you for the mail.

I have read the information pack you sent me. I find it contains no mention of any licensing, any contract worth the name, nor indeed any form of remuneration for the use of any work that I might be inclined to do for you.

As someone who has in the past earned a living from producing illustration and artwork, I have to say that I am dismayed that companies such as yours still believe that it is ethical or right to profit from others' unpaid labour - whether the work is voluntarily presented to you by the struggling or naive artist or not. I would not expect a plumber to repair my washing machine for nothing but the 'acknowledgement' and a complimentary wash-cycle. In fact I would be thought both foolish and venal to suggest it. I feel the same about you and your company frankly.

I assume that you are paid for the work that you do for Quarto. What makes you think that I, and other artists, shouldn't be?

If my work is good enough for your book then pay me properly for my time and effort. My rates are quite reasonable and lie within the norm for a standard commercial contract between publisher and artist. I have never, and will never, work for nothing. To do so, in my opinion, devalues both the craft and the profession.

I am cynical enough to be aware that you will almost certainly be inundated with work from younger artists desperate for exposure and flattery. Thankfully, my situation is such that I can resist such blandishments. I think it a crying shame that others are more vulnerable to such grubby practices. You, and the company you represent, should be ashamed.

Yours

Jon Glentoran

Posted on 17/07/2007 23:59:21

Today's link(s): The Quarto Group
Quote of the day: "I feel exploitation everywhere." - Paul Cezanne.

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But I thought he was dead!

Blimey! Doesn't time fly? I can't believe it's been nearly a year since I last updated the 'blog' (can you have a blog that's only updated on an occasional basis - I don't know). But guilt seems to have triumphed over laziness so here's a quick run-down of some things that have happened in the intervening time.

Last Tuesday Sharon, Anna and I went to the Scissor Sisters' Halloween gig at the Brixton Academy. Well done Anna for copping three tickets, as they sold out inside 30 minutes of going on sale! It was an amazing evening! All (or nearly all) the audience were in fancy dress. When we arrived the crowd was already queuing arouind the block and everyone who arrived had to run the gauntlet of those already there - getting a cheer if their costume was particularly good! We got in quite early and got a pretty good position down towards the front of the stalls.

The show was amazing - support band 'The Infadels' were very energetic, there was a great DJ and by the time the Sister's were on the excitement was at a pitch. Appetites had been whetted by the gradual uncovering of the set (which included the statues of the 'hell-dogs' from Ghostbusters on either side of the stage and a huge Faraday cage with spark generators). About 30 minutes or so before the Sisters were on a huge laboratory table had been wheeled on with a sheeted body on it - when the show actually started it tipped upright and the sheet slid off to reveal Jake Shears in full Framkenstein's Creature makeup! The rest of the band were also done out like the Universal monsters - Babydaddy as the Wolfman, Paddy as the Mummy (which must have been HOT!), JJ as the Invisible Man (though we didn't see much of him - boom boom!) and Del as a vampire. And Ana was in full Bride of Frankenstein gear. Fabulous!

They rocked the place, and the final number (Filthy and Gorgeous) was a true spectacular involving hula dancing, jiving mummies, two Zools from Ghostbusters, a boogying Frankenstein monster and an enormous King Kong plus electrical arcs and glitter bombs...! Proper kickass rock'n'roll! Heh heh!



What a great night. I loved the guys behind us who came as Hannibal Lector and Clarisse Starling, complete with straitjacket and necklace of fava beans, chianti corks and liver, and a gagged cuddly lamb! And Clarisse looked great with a beard! Mind you, I don't think we did too badly in the costume department either - check out the fearsome creatures below!



Been a busy couple of weeks, other than that. I've been doing a bit of acting for the first time in nearly ten years! It started when I was introduced to Owen, a director here in Derby. He was putting together an short independent film and asked me to play one of the parts. Though a bit nervous, I agreed. I needn't have worried, the shoot was wonderful. Owen ran a great set and is a generous, imaginative and stylish director. The rushes that I've seen of the film - The Opening - look absolutely amazing and I can't wait to see the final result, which is in post-production at the moment. Owen's website can be found at www.toothpix.co.uk and there's some pictures from the film there as well as details of Owen's other films and photography. Owen's wife Emma is a fantastic fine artist and her site is worth a visit too - www.emmatooth.co.uk.

One thing led to another and I was also asked to be in another film that Owen was the Director of Photography on. Directed by Kelly Holmes and Joe Barcham, 'The Grab' is a super-short (only 2 minutes long) horror film. So far it's been shown at nearly a dozen festivals throughout Europe. I went up to Leeds a couple of days ago, in fact, to see it along with several other short horror films in the Leeds International Film Festival. You can see 'The Grab' online at www.koroshiyafilms.co.uk. Be warned though - it's not for the squeamish or the easily-startled!

What else? Oh yes! Had two weeks in Corfu a little while ago, staying in a lovely villa just up from the beach resort of Kalami with a bunch of best friends. It was a fantastic, relaxing two weeks and (in a first for me) I actually got a tan! Corfu was beautiful and it was pretty much the perfect holiday - good friends, good company, (mostly) good weather and a beautiful place to stay. Though while we were there we sae a headline in the Daily Express - "Hotter than Corfu" which made us all feel a lot less smug!

Not much else, I think, other than the garden being finally finished! Hooray! Just one more room to go and the house will be done! Work much the same as ever...

One final piece of news before I sign off - I've got to have another sinus op :( so am going into hospital for a couple of days on Wednesday. So wish me luck!

Will try and pick up the blog during the couple of weeks convalescence - back to the usual mixture of political rants, boring details of my life, lists of books and films I'm currently obsessing about, and (very) occasional funnies!
Posted on 06/11/2006 19:57:34

Today's link(s): Owen Tooth - filmaker
Emma Tooth - artist
Koroshiya Films
Scissor Sisters
Quote of the day: "Raised by wolves, tamed by nuns, padded for your protection. "

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RIP Richard Pryor, 1940-2005

Oh bugger! Another illustration of the 'only the good die young' theory. Richard Pryor, one of the funniest people ever, has died, aged 65. We lost his live performances some time ago as the ravages of the multiple sclerosis that he was diagnosed with in 1986 took an increasing toll. But the body of work...oh man!

I actually wore out my copy of 'Richard Pryor Live'. Me and my friend Tony could do all the routines (mostly badly, of course) pretty much word for word. Watching that performance now, even after so many viewings, can still leave me literally hurting with laughter - Pryor as the burglar trapped by the Doberman: "Muthafucka sound like 'The Fly' - (squeaky voice) 'Help me. Help me. The dog is going to bite my asshole out'" (it's the single word 'out' at the end of that sentence that sends me to the floor). The achingly funny argument between Pryor and a buddy on meeting a bear while hunting in the woods (the physical comedy in this routine is particularly awesome): "Pass me the rifle!" "Uh, what rifle..?" "The rifle I gave you back at the car!" "Uh, I didn't know you wanted me to bring the rifle..."

Funny. Observant. Angry. Wise. And quite, quite brilliant. He redefined stand-up comedy for everyone, black, white, young, old, male, female.... You know those performers who come along every couple of generations who simply do it better than anybody else? Well, Richard Pryor did it way, way better even than them!

Sadly, we can no longer say: "I ain't dead yet, m*therf@ck%r". RIP Richard. Probably the greatest comedian of all time.
Posted on 11/12/2005 09:46:10

Today's link(s): RichardPryor.com
Quote of the day: "I like makin' love myself, and I can make love for about three minutes. I do about three minutes of serious f***in', then I need eight hours sleep! And a bowl of Wheaties!" - Richard Pryor, Richard Pryor Live

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Art, truth and politics

The full text of Harold Pinter's Nobel acceptance speech can be found here. A brilliant writer. A committed and courageous activist against violence, torture and terror - state-sponsored and not. A great man. His words are powerful, coruscating, savage, true. Further remarks from me would be presumptuous.
Posted on 08/12/2005 13:37:45

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Kittens or poo jokes?

What the hell is it with the manufacturers and sellers of greetings cards? I've just gone out to buy a birthday card for a young relative. Sainsburys (god help me) is unfortunately the only option, stuck as I am in the wilds of an out-of-town business park. There are shelves of birthday cards available - all of them featuring either cute ickle pictures of the 'kittens sleeping in wine-glasses' variety or 'jokes' about genitalia, sexual dysfunction or bodily incontinence. Why are there no cards that just say 'Happy Birthday' without inducing vomiting either from saccherine overload or disgust. Who the hell actually buys this crap unless forced to it by lack of choice?

Currently listening to:

• Kate Bush (the brilliance of the new album, Ariel, has sent me back to the older albums. All quite insanely good - especially 'The Red Shoes' and 'Hounds of Love'.)
• Velvet Chain (tripped-out, groovy rock/jazz/pop band based in Los Angeles. Think Portishead meets the Doors meets Garbage...with some Chili Peppers and Miles Davis thrown in.)
• Everlast (everything that Eminem thinks he is...and isn't.)

Currently watching:

• Lost (OK. I'm hooked. Still haven't cheated and jumped ahead to the second series. Just wish I could watch it without those c***s from 118118 demonstrating their total lack of any apparent talent for anything every quarter of an hour.)
• Godzilla (Finally saw a film that I've been wanting to see for years - the original, un-cut 1954 Japanese version of Godzilla. My little local independent cinema, the Metro, showed it last week in a pristine new print and with a thirty-minute talk beforehand. Worth the wait. Brilliant movie. If you only know Godzilla from the later, farcical, monster-fests, see this. You'll see the 'King of Monsters' in a whole new light!)
• Seinfeld (finally out on DVD. Best. Sitcom. Ever.)
• Google Earth (when you tire - as I eventually did - of finding friends' houses, why not join the new game of finding all the black helicopters on secret military bases across the globe? Apparently, the Americans have had to move all their flying saucers to Area 52.)

Posted on 06/12/2005 13:50:54
Quote of the day: Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn't come from a store. - Theodor Geisel (Dr.Seuss).

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More sad news...

Very sad today to learn of the death of the film director Robert Wise at the grand old age of 91. Robert Wise will always occupy a special place in the hearts of Trekkies like myself as the man who helmed the film - Star Trek The Motion Picture - that returned Star Trek to us in 1979 after ten years away.

But even if he hadn't done this, his stature in the industry would still be enormous. He started as a film editor and edited, among many other films, 'Citizen Kane for Orson Welles. In 1944 the cult producer Val Lewton gave Wise his first directing job as replacement director on 'The Curse of the Cat-People' and he immediately showed the thoughtful, iconoclastic and technically superb directing style that would become his mark through the years. In a body of work comprising thirty-nine films in over fifty years, stand-outs include 'The Day The Earth Stood Still' - a quietly brilliant antithesis to the standard paranoia-fuelled science fiction of the time, 'The Haunting' - still one of the most understatedly terrifying horror films ever made, 'Run Silent, Run Deep' - an incredibly atmospheric submarine drama (whose central premise, ironically, was plundered by Star Trek in 1967 for one of its best episodes 'Balance of Terror') and, of course, both the musicals 'West Side Story' and 'The Sound Of Music'.

He was nominated for seven Oscars and won four as well as winning the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, a special Oscar for sustained achievement, in 1966 and the Directors Guild of America's highest honor, the D.W. Griffith Award, in 1988.

I shall be watching the director's cut of Star Trek The Motion Picture again over the week-end and raising a glass to the memory of one of Hollywood's most brilliant and unassuming directors. R.I.P. Mr.Wise, and thank you from a long-time fan.
Posted on 16/09/2005 14:04:25
Quote of the day: "You can't tell any kind of a story without having some kind of a theme, something to say between the lines." - Robert Wise (1914-2005)

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